“A former top administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency was arrested on Tuesday in a major federal corruption investigation that found that the official took bribes from the president of a company that secured $1.8 billion in federal contracts to repair Puerto Rico’s shredded electrical grid after Hurricane Maria,” the New York Times reports.

Jennifer Rubin: “The House should seriously consider shifting the focus from the Mueller report and Trump’s attempts to short circuit the Russia investigation to the overarching issue of this presidency: His unparalleled corruption. The Mueller report will come into play, but as an example of a particular form of corruption. This is easy to understand and undermines the entire premise of Trump’s outsider campaign by focusing on how he uses the presidency to enrich himself and serve his personal needs.”

“The enrichment schemes multiply and become more nauseating by the day.”

Jonathan Chait: “Donald Trump came to the presidency a complete novice to government and often found his corrupt, authoritarian impulses frustrated by its bureaucracy. But he is slowly learning how to control the machine that has stymied him. This is the story of 2019, as Trump has replaced institutionalists attempting to curtail his grossest instincts with loyalists happy to indulge them. It is playing out across multiple dimensions. This is the through-line between several seemingly disconnected episodes from the last several days.”

“President Trump was on the cusp of commuting former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s (D) sentence late last week, multiple sources said. But then Republican members of Illinois’ congressional delegation began flooding the White House with calls,” CNN reports.

“Now, Trump appears to have backed off his plans to commute Blagojevich’s sentence.”

Rep. Duncan Hunter’s trial on charges that he improperly spent hundreds of thousands in campaign funds on lavish vacations, golf outings and entertainment has been moved to Jan. 14, Roll Call reports.

“President Trump said on Wednesday night that he was ‘strongly considering’ commuting the 14-year prison sentence of Rod Blagojevich, the former Illinois governor who was convicted of trying to essentially sell President Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat for personal gain,” the New York Times reports.

“In remarks aboard Air Force One, Mr. Trump described the incriminating phone call in which Mr. Blagojevich, a Democrat, was taped discussing selling the seat as mostly a minor offense and something ‘many’ politicians have done.”

“A federal grand jury in New York is investigating top Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy, examining whether he used his position as vice chair of President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee to drum up business deals with foreign leaders,” the AP reports.

“A wide-ranging subpoena the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn recently sent to Trump’s inaugural committee seeks records relating to 20 individuals and businesses. All have connections to Broidy, his investment and defense contracting firms, and foreign officials he pursued deals with — including the current president of Angola and two politicians in Romania.”

“Federal Prosecutors have accused Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) of improperly using campaign funds to pursue numerous romantic affairs with congressional aides and lobbyists,” Politico reports.

“Hunter’s wife has pleaded guilty and agreed earlier this month to cooperate with prosecutors.”